Uduaghan signs 2014 Delta budget into law

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta on Monday in Asaba signed the 2014 budget of N451 billion into law.

Uduaghan, who signed the budget along with three other bills, said all the bills were necessary to enable government deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.

The other bills were the Local Government Amendment; Public Officers Remuneration and Allowances and Delta State Security and Trust Fund bills.

He noted that the bills were important to enable government realise its agenda of “Delta Beyond Oil.

“These four major bills are now laws and are very important in the running of government and in the life of every Deltan.

“These laws will assist us and guide us in our actions as we govern the state, so that we can offer our people more dividends of democracy,” Uduaghan said.

According to him, out of the N451 billion budget, N161.7 billion is for recurrent expenditure, while N289.1 billion is for capital expenditure.

He said that the budget reflected the determination of the state government to address its capital projects and reduce its recurrent expenditure.

The governor presented a budget of N392 billion to the House on Dec. 18, 2013 but the House on Feb 19 passed a budget of N451 billion for assent.

The Speaker, Mr Victor Ochei, told newsmen after the signing of the budget that it was increased because there were key projects that the current administration needed to complete.

“This is the last full budget that this administration will operate; therefore, it is necessary for the House to provide for more funds to complete the projects,’’ he said.

Chief Kenneth Okpara, Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning, said some of the projects included the Asaba International Airport, the Osubi Airport, flyover projects in Asaba and Warri, among others.